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FROM 


A REPORT 


MADE TO THE 


y 

BY BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, 

PROF. CHEM. MIN. &C. IN YALE COLL. ; COR. MEM. SOC. ARTS, MAN. AND COM., AND 
FOR. MEM. GEOL. SOC. LONDON; MEM. GEOL. SOC. PARIS; MEM. ROY. MIN. SOC. 
DRESDEN; NAT. HIST. SOC. HALLE; IMP. AGRIC. SOC. MOSCOW; HON. 

MEM. LIN. SOC. PARIS; NAT. HIST. SOC. BELFAST, IRE. ; PHIL. AND 
LIT. SOC. BRISTOL, ENGLAND; HON. MEM. ROY. SUSSEX INST. 

BRIGHTON, ENG. ; LIT. AND HIST. SOC. QUEBEC ; MEM. 

OF VARIOUS LIT. AND SCIEN. SOC. IN AMERICA. 


AIDED BY 


BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, Jr., A. B., 

ASSISTANT IN THE DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY, MINERALOGY, AND GEOLOGY 
IN YALE COLLEGE; SEC. OF THE YALE NAT. HIST. SOC. ; MEM. OF THE 
CONN. ACAD. OF ARTS AND SCI. ; COR. MEM. OF THE LYCEUM 
OF NATURAL HISTORY NEW-YORK, &C- 


ON THE ESTATE OF SAID COMPANY, 


IN THE 


COUNTY OF ALLEGANY, MARYLAND. 


NEW-YORK: 

1838. 


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EXTRACTS 


FROM 


A REPORT 


MADE TO THE 


MARYLAND MINING COMPANY, 



BY BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, 

• « 


PROF. CTIEM. MIN. &C. IN YALE COLL. ; COR. MEM- SOC. ARTS, MAN. AND COM., AND 
FOR. MEM. GEOL. SOC. LONDON; MEM. GEOL. SOC. PARIS; MEM. ROY. MIN. SOC. 
DRESDEN; NAT. HIST. SOC. IIALLE; IMP. AGRIC. SOC. MOSCOW; HON. 

MEM. LIN. SOC. PARIS; NAT. HIST. SOC. BELFAST, IRE. ; PHIL. AND 
LIT. SOC. BRISTOL, ENGLAND; HON. MEM. ROY. SUSSEX INST. 

BRIGHTON, ENG.; LIT. AND HIST. SOC. QUEBEC; MEM. 

. OF VARIOUS LIT. AND SCIEN. SOC. IN AMERICA. 


AIDED BY 


t 


BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, Je., A. B., 


ASSISTANT IN THE DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY, MINERALOGY, AND GEOLOGY 
IN YALE COLLEGE; SEC. OF THE YALE NAT. HIST. SOC. ; MEM. OF THE 
CONN. ACAD. OF ARTS AND SCI. ; COR. MEM. OF THE LYCEUM 
OF NATURAL HISTORY NEW-YORK, &C. 


ON THE ESTATE OF SAID COMPANY 


V) 


IN THE 


COUNTY OF ALLEGANY, MARYLAND. 


NEW. 





1838 . 





4 


New York: 

Printed by Scatcherd and Adams, 
No. 38 Gold Street. 


io ^ 


To 


MATTHEW ST. CLAIR CLARKE, Esquire, 

President of the Maryland Mining Company. 

Sir, —Having been invited by gentlemen acting under the autho¬ 
rity of the company of which you are president, to visit and ex¬ 
amine its coal lands situated in Frostburgh, Allegany County, Ma¬ 
ryland, we have performed that duty, and now submit the result of 
our observations. 

The region in question having been examined by several profes¬ 
sional gentlemen, eminent as engineers or geologists, and their print¬ 
ed reports being already in possession of the company, and, to a cer¬ 
tain extent, of the public, we shall not think it necessary to go into 
all the details which might otherwise be proper. 

Our commission, as explained in personal interviews, w'as limited, 
more especially to an estimation of all those advantages, either na¬ 
tural or adventitious, which serve to recommend this great coal field, 
and more especially that portion of it which is in possession of the 
Maryland Mining Company, to the attention and confidence of the 
public ; and we were instructed also to report, with equal fidelity, 
any unfavorable circumstances. 

In discharging this duty, it becomes necessary to glance at the 
great features of the entire field, containing this rich repository of 
coal and iron, and other useful mineral substances ; otherwise we 
could form only an imperfect opinion of the character of any par¬ 
ticular portion of the territory. 

On the eastern confines of this coal field is situated the town of 
Cumberland, at the confluence of Wills’s Creek with the Potomac. 
It stands on the scite of the old Fort Cumberland, famous in the 
wars of the English colonies with the French and Indians before 
the American revolution. From this proximity arises the name of 
the Cumberland Coal-field, by which it is more generally known in 
other States. It is called also the Frostburgh coal ; from the vil¬ 
lage of this name, which stands in the midst of this coal region ; 
and lastly, the Allegany coal, from the county in which it is situat¬ 
ed, and perhaps from some allusion to the high mountain ranges 
that form its boundaries, and which belong to the Allegany group. 

The general direction of this coal-field is nearly north and south, 
the length of that part which is best known, and bounded on the 
south by the Potomac, is about 25 miles. Its breadth is 3 or 4 


4 


TJ ^ 

,|V\4r^ 5 ’ 


miles. The boundaries, of this coal formation are, the Savage 
Mountain on the west, and the Dan Mountain on the east. These 
ranges are stated to be from 1*200 to 1500 feel* above the general 
surface of the lower parts of the intermediate country, which is not 
a continued plain or hollow, but a collection of h;gli hills, with 
large and sweeping curves and numerous vaiiies, generally narrow 
and frequently abrupt. 

The elevation of the coal-field is generally estimated at about 
1500 feet above tide water, and 1000 above Cumberland, whose dis¬ 
tance from Frostburgh is eleven miles. This village, containing 
about 400 inhabitants, is very nearly the middle point between 
Wheeling on the Ohio, and Baltimore on the Chesapeake. It is oil 
the great National road, which is of admirable construction, Cum¬ 
berland being at its present eastern termination, and both towns are 
thoroughfares for the vast crowd of travellers that pass on this 
route between the west and the east. 

The great Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, connecting this region im¬ 
mediately with the District of Columbia, at the distance of 186 
miles from Cumberland to Georgetown, is already approaching 
Cumberland, and will soon be finished to that point ; and an exit is 
thus secured for the Frostburgh coal and iron. This is the fact 
most interesting to he mentioned on the present occasion, although 
we cannot forbear to express both the hope and the expectation that 
the canal will ultimately reach the Ohio. 

The heat of the climate of the Frostburgh coal region, although it 
is in a southern latitude, is tempered by its elevation, so that intense 
heat is rare, and of short continuance. The wintry winds are in¬ 
deed bleak and cold; but the means of comfort are at hand in the 
exuberance of fuel both on and beneath the surface ; and the slender 
bills of mortality evince a very healthful climate, with almost an en¬ 
tire exemption from any prevailing sickness. 

The extremely varied surface of this beautiful region produces 
great richness of scenery, presenting bold and picturesque views that 
change with every movement of the observer. High mountain 
ridges form the outline, finished by dense slopes and crests of forest 
trees, and the vast swelling hills often cultivated in meadows and 
fields of corn and grain, delight the eye by the beauty of the surface, 
while they rarely give any distinct information of the mineral trea¬ 
sures that lie beneath the soil. 

In mining countries it is not uncommon that the surface is sterile ; 
coal lands are however ofien an exception, as in the present case ; for 
this tract is a fine agricultural region. The grass is exuberant, form¬ 
ing rich meadows, in which herds grass is a natural growth. This 
country produces abundantly ail the crops common to the northern 
and middle States, although from the elevation of the land the sum. 

* Exact statements may be found in the topographical surveys of the Chesa¬ 
peake and Ohio Canal. Professor Ducatel gives the elevation of the coal-field 
above the sea as being 1850 feet. Report, &c. 18!>6. 


5 


mer is sometimes rather short for ripening Indian corn ; still excel¬ 
lent crops are raised, wheat, rye, oats, and potatoes are sure and 
abundant,—and it cannot be doubted that the hardier varieties of 
New England corn would ripen here. 

The extensive and numerous forests are filled with excellent tim¬ 
ber. White and Spanish oak, and other principal varieties of this 

family—hickory in its leading kinds—the butternut—the beach_ 

the sugar-maple—the chesnut—the cucumber tree—white pine, lo¬ 
cust, &c. The trees are of full size and in thrifty condition ; so that 
every estate in the territory may be fully supplied with the best tim¬ 
ber for buildings, for machinery, and constructions of every kind ; 
and should charcoal be needed extensively in the arts and manufac¬ 
tures, that will certainly spring up in a region abounding with the 
best mineral coal, the mountain forests will, for a long time, con¬ 
tinue to afford a full supply. 

Pines, and other evergreens are less numerous upon the coal lands 
than could be desired, but they are found in sufficient abundance 
upon the neighboring mountains ; and there is, in the circuit around, 
sufficient hydraulic power to saw them into plank and boards and 
other forms;—and in future years steam will in every place afford 
inexhaustible mechanical power, supplying the deficiency of dry 
seasons like the present, and the absence of large and numerous 
streams within the coal district. 

There are, however, several streams or runs, as they are here 
called, of considerable size and extent, and sufficient not only for irri¬ 
gation, but for hydraulic power. They flow in opposite directions 
through the whole territory, and are discharged, ultimately, into the 
Poiomac; which, with the principal tributaries, nearly encircles the 
coal field. Streamlets also flow down the inclined strata of the 
coal ; and as the mines are opened more and more, this source of 
irrigation will be increased. 

The geological structure of this coal field is very simple and in¬ 
telligible. Disregarding, for the present, the hills which it contains, 
it must be viewed rather as a trough than as a basin. Its form has 
been compared to that of a canoe; and if we suppose the sides of 
the canoe to flare considerably, and the ends not to rise very ab¬ 
ruptly, the comparison may be admitted as being sufficiently accurate 
for illustration. If, moreover, we suppose several smaller canoes to 
be placed successively one within the other, we shall then represent 
the successive strata of coal, shale or slate, sand-stone, iron ore, and 
lime-stone, of which this coal trough is composed. The three for¬ 
mer of these strata, the coal, the shale, and the sand-stone, are to 
be seen in almost every natural or artificial section of the country ; 
while the iron ore and the lime-stone, although not universal, appear 
in many places—and in some situations form regular strata. 

This is the usual structure of coal fields: it has evidently arisen 
from the operation of similar causes, although operating in places 
and periods widely separated from each other ; the review of these 


6 - 


would present some of the most interesting points in geology, but 
the discussion would be foreign to the present occasion, which is 
concerned with the practical rather than with theoretical topics. 

As usual in other coal fields, the strata are repeated again and 
again, certainly (as appears in the strata disclosed by the Potomac 
at Western.port on the south) at least eight or ten times ; and as the 
bottom has nowhere been seen, it is not improbable that the number 
of the coal measures may be still greater than has been observed ; 
for in the deeply.explored coal-fields of Europe, there are cases in 
which there are fifty or sixty suites or repetitions of the strata— 
indeed, in an extreme case, more than eighty ; thus proving that 
the coal vegetation, with its attendant deposits, chiefly sedimentary, 
has been as often renewed. 

The number of accessible coal beds in the Frostburgh region is 
not, however, at present more than six or eight; and the number 
that could now' be successfully wrought does not exceed three or 
four. They vary in thickness from one foot to at least ten or 
twelve. The great bed may be counted upon with safety, as afford¬ 
ing every where full ten feet of excellent workable coal, being regular¬ 
ly, between roof and pavement of shale, and the subordinate beds of 
3 to 4—5 to 6—and 7 to 8 feet in thickness, will be in turn, at some 
future time, worked with great advantage ; and some of them are 
even now wrought, as is the fact with a bed of three feet at Ar¬ 
nold’s. 

It follows necessarily from the structure of this coal country, 
that a cross section in the direction of its shortest diameter would 
present a series of curves parallel not only in a horizontal but in a 
vertical direction, each curve being in form not unlike a bow, with 
its convex portion downward and its ends pointing upwards ;—the 
ends of the bow correspond with the highest lines or out-cropings 
of the coal strata, and the lower part with the longitudinal axis of 
the trough. The upper edges of the coal strata present their out- 
cropings in the slopes, summits, or fronts of the two opposite moun¬ 
tain ranges, the Savage and the Dan ; while the axis, or line of low¬ 
est depression, called technically the synclinal axis, is found of ne¬ 
cessity in that longitudinal hollow towards which the waters flow 
down the declivity of the opposite strata, producing the streams 
called Jenning’s and Braddock’s* run, that flow northerly through 
vallies of the same name, and discharge their waters into Wills’s 
Creek, which, soon after, becomes confluent with the Potomac at 
Cumberland; while in the opposite or southern direction, flows 
George’s Creek, passing by Lonaconing, and emptying also into 
the Potomac. 

Although it is certainly possible that the rising of the mountain 

* So called from the unfortunate English General, who, with his army, pur¬ 
sued this route in 1754, to his fatal field on the Monongahela, near Pittsburgh. 
The road cut through the forest by Braddock is in many places visible to this 
day. 


7 


ranges that form the barriers of this coal-field may have lifted up 
the outer edges of its strata, it is also certain that its interior struc¬ 
ture has not been disturbed by reflecting forces from below ; hence 
the strata are not fractured—displaced—heaved—cut across by 
dykes or walls of intruded rocks, or even by fissures remaining 
empty or filled with clay, sand, pebbles, or large masses. Such 
disturbances are of frequent occurrence in Europe, especially in 
Britain, and cause great trouble, perplexity, and expense in working 
the mines. The coal strata may, for example, be cut off abruptly 
by a dyke or wall of rock, through which a passage must be made 
—perhaps with the risk of inundation, if the mine is on the lower 
side, and with no certainty of recovering the coal bed, for it may 
be heaved, perhaps many yards, or even several hundred feet from 
its proper place. Other strata may now abut upon the adit, and a 
painful, costly, and perhaps unsuccessful search must be made above 
or below for the lost coal. No troubles of this nature are to be 
encountered in the Frostburgh coal-tield, for the strata of coal once 
opened, will not be interrupted or fail, until we arrive at their out¬ 
crop in the regular ascent of the strata. 

To an uninstructed observer, who should look only upon the sur¬ 
face of this region, there would be no indication of this regular 
structure ; beneath he would see only the mountains, hills, and val- 
lies, cheered by the fine skies of this grand and beautiful country. 
But were he to accompany the geologist in his explorations, he 
might be made to understand that this surface, varied by the pictu¬ 
resque features of a lovely landscape, is not in its original form. 
The primary and transition rocks, which repose at a depth hitherto 
unfathomed below, must have attained nearly their present condition 
when the strata of the coal formation were deposited upon them in 
regular succession, and these strata were probably finished with a 
surface of great regularity. 

But this was no sooner accomplished than moving waters began to 
wear away the upper stratum—the heaving of frost, aided by all at¬ 
mospheric agencies and by occasional floods, promoted the work, 
which proceeded the more rapidly as declivities and channels began 
to be formed ; and thus gravity was enabled to give additional force 
and effect to the waters which, in their slow but sure action, are 
able,—with sufficient time, to wear away even the firmest sand 
stones as well as the feebler shales and coal, and thus to transport 
these materials either in fragments or in impalpable powder. A 
deluge may have accelerated the work, and thus were formed the 
fine hills and vallies of this region ; not by elevation, as mountain 
ranges and islands and continents have been raised from the ocean 
—but, on the contrary, by simply cutting the strata down, thus pro¬ 
ducing vallies of denudation, as they are called. 

In this manner then, while parts of the coal strata were, to a cer¬ 
tain extent, destroyed and removed in other places, they were also 
extensively uncovered—their edges, being brought into view, were 


made accessible; otherwise they might have been very long con¬ 
cealed, or they would have remained, as probably some of them still 
do, at such profound depths, as to be either entirely inaccessible, or 
to demand an amount of expenditure which w'ould preclude their 
being wrought. It is easy to see, then, that great advantages have 
resulted from these apparently destructive denudations : for thus 
were formed the vallies for drainage along the line of the axis, and 
thus also the scites of the rail-roads, by which the coal and the iron 
are to seek an egress to the canal, and ultimately to the Atlantic. 

The reason also becomes now apparent why different coal estates 
in this region may possess very different proportions of workable 
coal, and still be equally included within the true coal formation ; 
for the coal was once equally continuous through the whole, but 
has been removed in different proportions in different places. 

The draining of the mines is obviously of the highest importance 
to their successful exploration. In the case of a flat mining coun¬ 
try, without vallies, there is no resource but to pump out the water 
by the steam-engine, although it might in some cases be diffi¬ 
cult to dispose of it upon the surface ; but where the strata are ele¬ 
vated even in a very small degree, and decline towards the vallies, 
especially where they decline also in opposite directions towards 
the same axis, or where different vallies decline towards a common 
outlet, then the situation is the best possible for drainage. 

This is the fortunate condition of the Frostburgh cold field, at 
least to all the strata that lie above the bottom of the vallies, and 
the coal that is in this situation is so abundant that it will not be 
exhausted for centuries. It will be the province of a distant poste¬ 
rity to drain the lower beds by tunnelling, or by the unlimited and 
untiring energy of the steam engine. Those estates then, in this 
region are the most fortunate, which communicate directly at their 
lowest edge with the vallias of discharge, running along or near the 
synclinal axis or lowest line of the coal trough ;—and those propri¬ 
etors who do not enjoy this advantage, must either resort to more 
expensive modes of drainage or treat with their intervening neigh¬ 
bors for a right of passage—a covered way through which the wa¬ 
ters may flow, and the coal may pass out without the aid of machi¬ 
nery. 

The transportation of coal from the expensive mines to its final 
outlet upon the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, must obviously depend 
upon the same circumstances as the drainage. A tram road (a 
cheap kind of rail-road) is constructed in the gallery or adit of the 
mine, and is continued to the valley of discharge. The miner 
loads the car, as it stands by his scene of labor, in the mine ; and 
gravity, or a feeble animal power, transports it to the permanent 
rail-road, along or near the axis or valley of discharge, whence it 
proceeds on its route to market, with the least possible delay, labor, 
or inconvenience. 

This, again, is the happy condition of the Frostburgh coal field.— 


9 


If there are impediments, they are chiefly of a civil or conventional 
nature, depending on the rights of property : if these should prove 
insuperable without ruinous expense, there will be no remedy but 
tunnelling, or animal power, or the steam engine. And if there 
should be no place accessible for tunnelling without interfering with 
civil rights, then, ultimately the giant power of steam will vanquish 
all difficulties. 

Such mines, of course, cannot compete on equal terms with those 
which enjoy every natural advantage for drainage and transporta¬ 
tion ; but they may still sustain themselves, although with diminish¬ 
ed profits, especially in a region where the refuse coal, not fit for 
the market, will feed the steam engines as long as the mines shall be 
wrought, and where, at no distant period, steam engines, and all 
other desired structures of iron, will be largely manufactured, from 
native materials, and with skill belonging to the territory itself. 

With respect to rail-roads for transporting the coal, iron, &c. to 
the canal, there can be no debate as to their location. It must be in 
one of the vallies or runs already mentioned, namely Braddock’s or 
Jennings’s. It is sufficient to be assured that both routes are entire¬ 
ly practicable with a distance not exceeding nine or ten miles to the 
future basin of the canal or Wills’s Creek ; and that therefore the coal 
and iron of the Frostburgh region is certain of an eligible exit as 
soon as the canal shall be ready to transport it to tide water—a pe¬ 
riod which we are assured is not farther distant than the summer of 
1840. 

It is not our purpose to enter into the statistics and economy of 
the transportation, nor is it necessary, as it has been rendered abun¬ 
dantly manifest by documents of high authority already published, 
that the Frostburgh coal and iron will arrive in the Atlantic cities 
in a condition to sustain a competition upon the ground of excel¬ 
lence alone—and this is quite sufficient to give assurance both to 
proprietors and the public. It may be mentioned that another rail¬ 
road is projected from the southern outlet to transport the coal and 
iron from Lonoconing to the Potomac. 

The coal of the Frostburgh region is of a peculiar character, 
peculiar at least among American coals; and we are not aware of 
any exactly analogous case in other countries. It occupies a place 
in our series of coals which it appears very desirable should be fill¬ 
ed. It is a connecting link between the bituminous coals and the 
anthracite—as the latter contains carbon without bitumen, it is 
more difficult to ignite, and burns with a far less abundant flame 
than the bituminous coal ; but it endures much longer, and gives a 
more intense heat analogous to the coke of bituminous coal. In 
most of the anthracites sulphur is present in such quantities as to 
exhale the sulphur gases very constantly, and to such a degree as to 
prove both annoying and noxious when they are allowed to es¬ 
cape into the air of apartments. Among the anthracites, there is 
in this respect great diversity ; and those kinds are most anxiously 

2 



10 


sought for by the iron smiths, which are the most exempt from sul¬ 
phur. The bituminous coals contain sulphur in common with the 
anthracites, and among them also selections are anxiously made by 
the iron smiths for varieties that are as free as possible from sul¬ 
phur. 

It is scarcely necessary to remark that the bituminous coals burn 
with a copious flame ; that bitumen abundantly exudes, appearing 
in a liquid form on the fracture of burning pieces ; that a strong 
bituminous odor is emitted ; that much black smoke rises, soiling 
every thing which it touches, and that the tubes and chimneys for 
the draught become lined with combustible matter, requiring fre¬ 
quent cleaning to prevent their taking fire. The heat produced by 
the bituminous coal is also inferior to that given out by anthracite, 
and is of shorter continuance. 

In all coals the residuum is more or less considerable, according 
to the amount of incombustible impurities which remain mixed with 
certain portions of the coal that have escaped combustion. If the 
residuum is large, especially when it contains iron, and the heat has 
been intense, it is often vitrified into slag, and scorirn or cinders, 
which obstruct the bars of a fire-grate, interfere with the draught 
of air, and not unfrequently adhere to the surfaces of the fire bricks 
that form the lining of the furnaces. As the latter become soften¬ 
ed by the heat, they readily vitrify along with the cinders, and form 
firm masses, which, when cold, can be detached only by great force, 
and then indeed, cleave off by taking with them portions of the 
fire bricks. These are well known inconveniences experienced in 
burning the anthracites, especially in close furnaces lined with fire 
bricks; and the residuum is large. 

In the bituminous coals, the amount of bitumen, although various, 
is generally great, rarely falling below 30 to 40 per cent., and aver- 
aging 30 per cent.—while the carbon is in proportion, being on an 
average 65 per cent. : very seldom reaching 75 per cent., and 
sometimes falling to 57 or 58 per cent. 

The composition of the Frostburgh coal, as ascertained by seve¬ 
ral of our best chemists, in whom we may repose full confidence, 
presents on the average 78 to 80 per cent, of carbon, with 15 to 20 
per cent, of bitumen and earthy matter; the latter being about 5 
per cent, with only a trace of iron.* 

The analysts concur in saying that they can find no sulphur ; a 
very extraordinary result, since it is very rare that coal is found 
without sulphur. It is however not incredible ; for among the beau¬ 
tiful coals of the Frostburgh field, it is very possible that this expe¬ 
riment may be repeated many times with a similar result, and still 
in a wider range of observation at the tnines themselves, we find 
small crystals of iron pyrites among the coal shales, and more rare¬ 
ly in the coal itself. 

* See the statements in the published reports of the Maryland Mining Com¬ 
pany. 


11 


Among the heaps that have been for some time exposed to the ac¬ 
tion of the atmosphere, we sometimes perceive sulphate of iron or 
copperas, and sulphate of alumina or alum in a state of efflores¬ 
cence ; and thus proving the existence of sulphur. Although there¬ 
fore it may not be strictly true, that, on a large scale, this coal is 
entirely exempt from sulphur, it is certainly true that it exists in 
no appreciable quantity ; and may therefore, for all practical pur- 
poses, be regarded as absent. 

It is stated (truly, as we have no doubt,) that when a large pile of 
the Frostburgh coal, in full ignition, is dashed with water, there is no 
perceptible odor of the sulphur gases, which are so overpowering when 
anthracite is treated in a similar manner; nor are the sulphur gases 
perceived when we smell the exhalations proceeding from the Frost¬ 
burgh coal as they rise in the chimney above a common grate. 
In confirmation of the opinion that this coal contains no apprecia¬ 
ble quantity of sulphur, it is found that bar iron can be wrought by 
its aid without imparting any brittleness to the iron, or in any de¬ 
gree injuring its malleability. It is a favorite fuel in the public ar¬ 
mory at Harper’s Ferry. It is on good grounds expected that this 
exemption from sulphur will fit this coal, even in its raw state, for 
the manufacture both of pig and bar iron, and for all operations of 

the forge. 

© 

The Frostburgh coal forms an excellent coke :—it cakes suffi- 
ciently to make it coherent, and therefore even the small refuse 
coal can be coked. There is a regular built coking oven at the 
Boston mine ; but this appears not to be necessary, as this coal can 
be coked in a common kiln covered with earth in the open air. 
Its coke is peculiarly beautiful, and affords a very intense heat. 
But even without coking, the large amount of carbon which it con¬ 
tains adapts it extremely well for the production of an intense heat; 
while the bitumen, although in small proportion compared with the 
common bituminous coals, is still sufficient to produce a ready com¬ 
bustion, which is very enduring on account of the large quantity of 
carbon. 

In general this coal burns with little or no odor, and exhales so 
little smoke or fume, that it does not line the chimney with any 
combustible matter; the chimney therefore needs no cleaning ; no 
exhalation is emitted to soil the furniture of a room ; and it is even 
asserted that any white substance held in the current of a chimney 
contracts no fuliginous tint from the burning of this coal. 

Its combustion in an open grate is in accordance with what we 
might expect from its composition and properties. The fire is easi¬ 
ly kindled, and burns with a degree of vivacity intermediate be¬ 
tween that of bituminous coal and anthracite, while the heat and its 
endurance are in the same relation. It lasts through the night:— 
it is common, in its native region, to heap this fuel upon the grate 
at the hour of retiring to rest, covering it with a layer of fine coal; 
and thus a massy fire is found in the morning, which is easily re- 


12 


vived by adding more coal in pieces, and removing the earthy 
ashes. 

Those who use this coal prefer it, as we are assured, both to the 
anthracite and to the proper bituminous coals ; and whatever allow¬ 
ance we may make for the influence of interested feelings, it is ap¬ 
parent that the Frostburgh coal is a very important acquisition to 
the nation. It has for ages reposed almost unknown in the bosom 
of its native mountains, and would still, as regards the public, have 
remained a sealed treasure, had not the great canal opened a chan¬ 
nel by means of which it will soon be brought into the market and 
placed in competition with the coal of other regions. As an object 
of mineralogical description the coal of Frostburgh is very interest¬ 
ing. 

It has the usual slaty structure of the bituminous coals : it is in¬ 
tensely black and brilliant, especially in certain lands which have 
the highest possible lustre. It frequently presents, particularly in 
the most brilliant parts, a structure approaching to crystallization as 
it divides its prismatic masses of a fibrous striated or columnar form. 
The specific gravity of this coal is 1.32 to 1.38. In some places 
it is iridescent, presenting the rainbow hues in great beauty, vivaci¬ 
ty, and variety. These tints are supposed to be reflected from a 
ferruginous film proceeding commonly from the decomposition of 
minute portions of pyrites; but it is also suggested that they may 
arise from structural arrangement decomposing and reflecting the 
light as happens with many shells. 

The coal of Frostburgh is tender when the beds are first opened 
in the portions that have been more or less affected by the weather; 
but as we penetrate the mass which has never been exposed to at¬ 
mospheric action, it becomes firm, and admits of transportation. 
As usual, it presents innumerable remains of plants both in the 
structure of the coal and in the attendant rocks :—the sand stones, 
in particular, contain large and numerous stems and branches pro¬ 
bably of equiseta or horse tails, and of reeds or calamites ; while very 
delicate leaves and shells are found in the shales and iron ores. 
When the mines shall be more extensively wrought, we may expect 
that fine cabinet specimens will be obtained. 

The association of iron ores, particularly of the clay ores or 
argillaceous family, with mineral coal, is so common, as to be re¬ 
garded in the light of a provision indicating wise and benevolent 
design in the author of nature, since nothing can be more happy 
than to find the most important of all the metals in the same mines 
with the fuel requisite for working it; for even the common bitumin¬ 
ous coals are largely employed in England in the manufacture of 
iron, especially since it has been discovered that by coking the coal 
it can be made available for this purpose—and it is now employed, 
even in its crude state, with or without the hot blast. 

When about the middle of the last century it became impossible 
in England to supply charcoal, as in Sweden, for the iron furnaces, 


13 


the happy application of coke restored the languishing manufac¬ 
tures, and gave England the pre-eminence among the nations,—a po¬ 
sition due however equally to her skill, to her wise economy in 
manufactures, and to her own noble invention of the steam en¬ 
gine. 

It is perhaps worthy of remark, in estimating the geological cha¬ 
racter of the region of the Frostburgh coal, that in addition to the 
attendant strata usually found with coal, as already named, there 
are in this vicinity other features, evincing that the structure is in 
accordance with the arrangements of similar formations in other 
countries. Near Cumberland and in Braddock’s and Jennings’s 
run, appears the old sand stone of geologists, whose proper position 
is beneath the coal, and whose situation at the places named evinces 
that it is there in its proper place. 

Still inferior to this in geological position is the transition lime¬ 
stone, characterized by its peculiar organic remains ; among which 
trilobites and encrinites are conspicuous ; indeed, from the abun¬ 
dance of the latter it is often called the encrinital limestone. Now 
this limestone is conspicuous near Cumberland, and its position is 
such as to evince that it is below the old red sand stone ; and this, 
notwithstanding it appears in a vertical strata, especially at a place 
three miles above Cumberland, where it is called the Devil’s Run. 
Two conspicuous vertical strata here stand out prominent on the 
bank of Wills’s Creek, with an elevation apparently of 200 to 250 
feet, and between them, over the edges of other dilapidated strata, is 
a slide used for wood: hence probably the allusion in the above- 
mentioned name. 

These strata are replete with the appropriate organic remains. 
It may be added also, that in the fragments of sand stone torn off 
in the construction of the national road opposite to the gorge in 
Wills’s mountain, there are magnificent encrinital stems of great size 
and in vast profusion, and perhaps corals, entirely covering large 
faces of the fallen fragments of sand stone. They are somewhat 
defaced, but the jointed structure of the encrinital stems is on a close 
inspection still discernible. At Cumberland they are working this 
transition lime stone as a marble, and, as usual, the organic forms 
impart its principal beauties. The polished slabs which we saw are 
extremely beautiful,—being made up almost entirely of organic re¬ 
mains, and among them are fine corals. Hereafter this marble will 
be sawn and polished by the hydraulic power of Wills’s Creek, and 
by steam ; and will add an elegant ornamental material to the more 
indispensable resources of coal and iron. 

As many structures may be expected to arise at the junction of 
the rail-road or rail-roads with Wills’s Creek,—where there will 
doubtless be a manufacturing town or village at the great depot of 
the coal,—it is important to observe, that in addition to the marble, 
there are magnificent quarries of sand-stone of the best quality 
immediately at hand, and accessible at the feet of the mountains, 


14 


from which, at a little expense, excellent architectural materials may 
be drawn for any number of buildings, whether work-shops, ware¬ 
houses, or mansions for families. The stone is both excellent in 
quality and beautiful in appearance. 


THE COAL LANDS OF TJJE MARYLAND MINING COM- 

PANY. 

The coal-field of the Maryland Mining Company contains about 
two thousand two hundred acres, including a contiguous piece of 
wood-land of one hundred acres, purchased subsequently to the main 
tract, of which one thousand six hundred acres are reckoned to be 
coal lands of the first class for abundance and excellence . The tract 
lies contiguous to the village of Frostburgh, the most western part 
being within a fourth of a mile of the head of the valley called Jen¬ 
nings’s Run, and of the principal hotel on the main street. The 
lands are intersected by the great national MeAdamised road lying 
on both sides of it. 

They possess, in an eminent degree, the agricultural and other 
advantages of surface that have been mentioned in the preliminary 
description. The territory contains several good farms under fen¬ 
ces and cultivation, with excellent meadows and productive fields of 
wheat, corn, and potatoes, and other crops that have been named. 
Much the greater part of the tract is in cultivated fields, with a 
convenient proportion of the best timber,—a full supply is secured 
by the purchase of the 180 acres named above,—almost the whole 
of which is forest. The ground is much varied by hill and valley, 
formed in easy slopes, and is all available for agriculture—no posi¬ 
tion being occupied by impracticable morasses, rocky ledges, or 
mountain ridges. The valuable Vale farm, so called, being a por¬ 
tion of the tract, has upon it a good house and buildings for a ten¬ 
ant, and is cultivated on lease :—the same is the fact with Eckhart’s 
farm, and there are on the lands various buildings of less conside¬ 
ration. 

It is an important circumstance, that while the strata below are 
enriched by immense beds of coal, the surface is capable of contri¬ 
buting its rich harvests to afford food and comfort for the miners 
and artisans. The wood land lies upon the national road, detached 
indeed from the main tract, but still very near,—being upon the 
descent of the hills towards Cumberland. With this exception the 
entire coal-field of the Maryland Company lies in one unbroken ter¬ 
ritory, intersected conveniently by the common roads. It is indent¬ 
ed by a farm or two, the titles to which can be obtained should 
they be considered desirable. The central position of the compa¬ 
ny’s lands must secure to them every advantage which may in fu¬ 
ture arise from the growth of the village of Frostburgh, as well as 



15 


from the general prosperity of a country which must inevitably be- 
come filled with population, industry, and useful arts. 

The main or ten feet coal bed underlies the whole territory of the 
Maryland Company, except the removals by denudation that have 
already been described; and there is probably no tract in the entire 
Frostburgh coal-field which has been less cut up by these causes, 
nor where, as regards the physical features that have been impressed 
upon it, the advantages for drainage and extraction are more de¬ 
cisive. 

The opening called Eckhart’s mine is situated ]i or 2 miles 
east from Frostburgh, on the Cumberland road. This mine has 
been worked more or less by the local proprietors for twenty or 
thirty years. The working is in the great bed,—the opening being 
immediately by the side of the national road:—the direction of the 
adit is S. 15° E. to S. 25° E. and its length 620 feet. It has, to 
a small extent, side cuts and stalls as they are named,—that is, rooms 
between the pillars of the coal that are left to support the roof when 
excavations are made from a main adit to the right and left. This 
bed of coal lies most beautifully, between its shale floor and roof, 
and yields full nine feet of the most excellent coal. Several feet 
more may be extracted, but the coal is not quite so good in close 
proximity with the shale. 

The opening having been made by the farmers as their occasions 
required, was excavated far two wide—namely, from twenty to forty 
feet from right to left, leaving a large room with the pressure of the 
strata incumbent upon it, while the roof is sustained only by beams 
and posts of wood. By proper attention they can be renewed so as 
to render it safe to enter the mine,—for this faulty support occupies 
only about 200 feet nearest the entrance. Beyond that part, the 
mining has been carried on correctly by those trained to the busi¬ 
ness in Scotland. 

The roof is vaulted by arching the coal, and pillars of this sub. 
stance remain, between which the lateral excavations are made ; 
and thus all is left in a safe and permanent condition, not being lia¬ 
ble to flaking and crumbling, to create obstruction to the work or 
danger to the miners. A rail-road is laid in the mine as far as the 
work has proceeded ; the car is loaded as fast as the coal is detach¬ 
ed, and thus it passes out of the mine by human tractation, no other 
power being required. The coal is detached by the pickaxe and 
wedges ; the pickaxe cuts it below by an operation called holing, 
and then laterally, on both sides, in a perpendicular direction; 
finally wedges cleave it from the top, when the masses fall and are 
ready for the car. 

It is reckoned an advantage when thin veins of slate divide the 
coal ; being laid in the direction of the stratification, they divide the 
beds into convenient portions; that part which is below is first re¬ 
moved, and when the miners are ready, that above follows with 
great facility on a slight application of force. 


16 


There are two thin veins of slate in this coal—one of two and the 
other of four inches thickness. It is reckoned that one miner will ex¬ 
cavate and bring out from one hundred to one hundred and fifty bush¬ 
els of coal a day—the smaller number with great ease. Very slight 
efflorescences of copper and alum are perceived on the coal, and 
shales of this mine, especially after exposure for some time in the 
air; but, as already observed in the introductory remarks, they are 
so slight that the sulphur they imply may be disregarded. 

This mine is not far from the western limit of the company’s pos¬ 
sessions, and consequently a very great amount of coal cannot be 
taken out in that direction. This exploration can be pursued to 
a certain moderate extent, but will be eventually abandoned in fa¬ 
vor of more eligible locations. One of this description is already 
selected, and the miners have made considerable progress in opening 
a new adit on the declivity of the hill almost at the bottom of the 
lain, and many yards lower than Eckbart’s mine. This adit, when 
we saw it (July 20, 1838,) had not yet penetrated under ground : it 
was opened like a canal, but it had been rendered certain that the 
direction was right, because a shaft had been sunk a few rods high¬ 
er up the hill, and the main coal bed is there penetrated, and its 
floor is found at the depth of twenty-four feet from the immediate 
surface. 

The new adit will therefore strike the bottom of the bed of coal, 
and thenceforward they will be excavating coal as they proceed 
into the hill, following, of course, the ascent of the strata. This new 
adit being considerably to the right (the observer looking towards 
the opening) of Eckhart’s mine, and its direction at a considerable 
angle to the gallery of the mine, it follows, of course, that a much 
larger area of coal will then be accessible for extraction than could 
be approached in Eckhart’s present opening ;—the drainage will also 
continue to take place down the declivity of the strata, and ultimate¬ 
ly into Braddock’s Run. 

The cross cuttings in Hoffman’s mine are all to the right of the 
adit;—this is intended to favor the drainage by following the natu¬ 
ral declivity of the strata, and thus throwing all the water into the 
main adit or drift, by which it runs off. In this mine they have 
also opened side drifts on the declivity of the strata, and being be¬ 
low the common line of discharge, the water cannot run off. As 
yet, however, the quantity of water accumulated is so small as not 
to occasion any inconvenience. In this place it is proper to re¬ 
mark that the region of the Frostburgh coal is not redundant in 
water ; the mines, as far as wrought, proving to be remarkably dry. 
This is an encouraging fact as regards the prospective mining ope¬ 
rations, since we are quite sure that there will be no sudden inunda¬ 
tions, as happens occasionally in Europe, especially where, as al¬ 
ready intimated, rocky or other cross barriers are penetrated. 

The comparative goodness of the Frostburgh region does not, 
however, furnish reason for neglecting any available means of drain- 


17 


age, and obviously none can be so effectual as opening the mines at 
the lowest accessible point. 

It is worthy of observation that the springs of these mines are 
generally impregnated with iron, which appears in rusty deposits 
and rainbow tints on the surface of standing waters. Hence there 
are chalybeate springs containing iron enough to give them useful 
properties. 

We have had occasion to advert repeatedly to the diluvial vallies 
which have cut up the Frostburgh coal formation. In accordance 
With the views that have been presented on that subject, we find on 
the side of Preston’s Run, opposite to that in which the Hoffman 
mine is situated, an out-cropping of the great ten feet bed. It is 
usual to find these out-croppings covered by the loose matters of di¬ 
luvium. In all coal regions this is more or less the case : the loose 
soils are often stained black by the minutely divided coal (appear¬ 
ances that are called coal-blossoms by the miners), and when there 
is no such superficial indication, still in a regularly constructed coal- 
trough or basin the coal may be expected to appear on the opposite 
sides of the vallies on removing the diluvium. This is the effect 
in the present case on “ the valeand the bed has been opened 
sufficiently to prove that, although a considerable valley intervenes, 
it is the very identical ten feet stratum which is the scene of Hoff¬ 
man’s mine. 

Numerous instances of this kind occur in the Frostburgh coal re¬ 
gion. The coal appears on the front of Dan Mountain, looking 
away from the coal region towards the Potomac : the same is the 
fact in a remote place at Western-port, 34 miles up the river, where, 
as already cited, more coal strata appear than any where else ; and 
among them the great bed cropping out at 900 feet elevation imme¬ 
diately above the Potomac. The appearance of an unusual number of 
strata of coal here is owing to a great natural section presented by a 
high mountain precipice; there is no reason to doubt that all these 
strata, and more, exist through the entire Frostburgh coal field. 

Too much praise cannot be bestowed upon the quality of the 
coal of the Frostburgh region.—It is, indeed, not of uniform excel¬ 
lence ; but it is so prevailingly pure and good, that there can be no 
probability of failing to obtain good coal in any of the beds that 
may be worked. In the Hoffman mine there is a considerable layer 
of iridescent coal, evidently deriving its tints either from oxide of 
iron, modified perhaps in its proportions by the influence of the car¬ 
bon, or reflecting its tints in consequence of structural arrange¬ 
ments. These rainbow colors are merely superficial, and probably 
do not imply any superiority in the quality of the coal. There is 
a vein of coal in this mine six or eight inches thick, which has the 
structure and appearance of cannel coal. 

Hitherto the mines of this region exhibit no marks of affording, 
spontaneously, carburetted hydrogen gas ; the damp of the mines, so 
prone to explode along with the atmosphere whenever a burning 

o 

<> 


18 


lamp or candle is brought into contact with the mixture. The mines 
of Nova Scotia and of Richmond are, we believe, the only ones 
in this country that have been visited by this dangerous agent ; but 
as our mines of bituminous coals are worked deeper, it is probable 
they will encounter this evil. We may, however, presume that the 
Frostburgh coal, like the Anthracite, will be exempt. This conjec¬ 
ture is founded on its composition, in which carbon so much pre¬ 
vails and bitumen is so deficient; for although the bitumen in this 
coal can doubtless, by a properly managed heat, be made to afford 
a good inflammable gas, which, when used as a gas light, is said to be 
powerful in illumination, it is not probable that it will undergo any 
farther decomposition in the mines, so as to give off inflammable 
gas spontaneously.* In the natural operations by which it was 
found in the earth, it appears to have (so to speak) undergone a 
more thorough preparation than the bituminous coals, discharging 
either by its own vegetable fermentation, or in consequence of the 
application of internal heat, modified by pressure, much of its vola¬ 
tile ingredients, but not all the bitumen. 

With respect to the question whether the other beds of coal in 
this coal-field can be advantageously wrought,—we would remark, 
that this is chiefly a question for our successors in distant times, as 
the ten feet hed will riot be exhausted for ages. It is, however, mani¬ 
fest that all the beds that can be entered, where workmen can ope¬ 
rate, and from which the water can be drained, admit of advanta¬ 
geous exploration. Several of them are worked now in different 
places, and the coal of the three feet bed is in particular estimation. 
Some of the Scotch miners assured us that they had no objection to 
working a bed of three feet, lying down upon the side and striking 
laterally ; and at the same time they appeared unwilling to encoun¬ 
ter a bed of more than five feet in thickness, because, as they as¬ 
serted, they could not bring it all off without scaffolding, as they 
termed it, by which they mean the successive terraces 01 platforms 

* EXPERIMENTS ON COAL BY THE MANHATTAN COAL GAS 

COMPANY. 

1 Chaldron of Cannel coal yielded in 3^ hours, 

15,000 feet of gas—specific gravity 640. 

48 bushels of coke (weighing 1,728 lbs.) 

1 Chaldron half Cannel and half Crouch’s yielded in 4 hours 
12,000 feet of gas—spec. grav. 515. 

60 bushels of coke (weighing 2,240 lbs.) 

1 Chaldron of Cumberland will yield in 4 hours, 

13,000 feet of gas—spec. grav. 450. 

64 bushels of coke (weighing 2,200 lbs.) 

1 Chaldron Midlothian yielded in 4 hours, 

12,000 feet of gas—spec. grav. 460. 

50 bushels of coke (weighing 2,188 lbs.) 


19 


which they cut in the coal itself, when the bed is very thick ; thus 
mounting and descending as there may be occasion, and finally 
cutting away the steps themselves. In the Frostburgh coal-field 
there are strata of coal corresponding to almost every foot between 
one foot and ten, and (even as some are inclined to say) twelve or 
fourteen ; but we believe it is quite safe to count upon one bed of 
three feet—one of four to five—one of six to seven—and of one 
from ten to twelve, which, in different parts of the field, may, in 
consequence of topographical peculiarities, be worked to advantage 
in one place or in another. 

A detailed consideration of the subject of your rail-roads will 
not be expected from us. The where, the how, and the when, must 
be settled by the proper board, and doubtless will be at no distant 
day, with the full information either already obtained or to be pro¬ 
cured from professional engineers. We will dismiss the topic by a 
single remark, namely, that as the period is at hand when the great 
avenue to market by the canal will be open, there is no time to be 
lost in deciding all these questions, and in putting in train the ac¬ 
tive operations necessary alike to exploration and mining, and to 
transportation to the water and upon the water, until the invaluable 
products of the Frostburgh region shall flow to market in quantity 
commensurate to the demand which may be fairly expected for such 
valuable materials. 

We have to add that our analysis of the coal corresponds with 
that of the skilful men who have preceded us in the inquiry, and 
whose accurate results have rendered ours unnecessary, except as a 
matter of form. We find in a fair specimen from the Hoffman 
mine the following constituent proportions, 

Carbon, 

Bitumen, 

Per-oxide of Iron, 

Silica, 

Alumina, 

Lime, and a trace of Magnesia, 

Water, 


82.01 

13.34 

1.33 

1.00 

.33 

.33 

1.66 


100.00 


The specific gravity is 1.32 to 1.38. 

In this analysis we were assisted by our able professional hiend 
Professor Charles U. Shepard, formerly assistant in the chemical 
department of Yale College, and now Professor of Chemistry in 
the Medical College of the State ot South Carolina, but residing 
from April to November, at New Haven, Connecticut. Mr. Shepard 
rciricirks • 

“ It ignites readily, and burns with a bright yellowish-white flame, 
swelling at the same time in dimensions to nearly treble its bulk, 
but not running together, like the caking coal, so as to require tre- 







20 


quent stirring for the free admission of air, in order to maintain the 
combustion. 

“ It is entirely free from iron pyrites and from coal slate. The 
mechanical structure of this coal is eminently favorable to mining 
and to transportation, inasmuch as its strength is adequate to make 
it a good support for the roof of the mine, while it will prevent the 
coals that are raised from suffering an inconvenient pulverization; 
nor is it too firm for easy breakage with the pick. 

“ The proportion of bitumen is exactly what we should desire for 
easy kindling, and to produce the requisite augmentation of bulk, in 
order to secure the free ingress of the air for sustaining combus¬ 
tion ; while the extraordinary preponderance of carbon, and the 
freedom from sulphur, make it of inestimable value as ordinary fuel or 
for coke,—the former property rendering it a powerful and a lasting 
fuel, and the latter being a security against the disgusting smell of 
sulphuretted hydrogen, and the corrosion of furnaces, as well as the 
deterioration of metals generally that may be heated by it.” 


In concluding our remarks upon the territory of the Maryland 
Mining Company, we are strongly impressed by the magnitude of 
the interests which it involves. In geological structure—in natural 
facilities for drainage and extraction—in the excellence and peculiar 
character of the coal—in its vast abundance—in its relations to the 
iron—the limestone—the fire clays—the sand stones for building— 
the forests—the agriculture and pasturage—the climate—the posi¬ 
tion in reference to the Western waters and the Atlantic—the na¬ 
tional road, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal,—and in a word, the 
the entire group of its advantages, it is not excelled by any coal 
field in our country, while it is equalled by few, if any, in the world. 

One inconvenience only, of any magnitude, it has had to encoun¬ 
ter. The region has been wholly inaccessible for purposes of trans¬ 
port, until in the first place it has been intersected by the great na¬ 
tional road, one of the best in the world, connecting the far west 
with the great thoroughfare leading to the ocean; and in the second 
and last place, it will soon enjoy the benefits of water transportation 
down the canal, by which its coal and iron, and the various products 
that will grow out of them, will ultimately reach the marts of com¬ 
merce, and the shops and firesides of those who dwell in far distant 
regions. 

Although we now view these things only prospectively, we hazard 
little in saying, that with wise counsels, liberal means, skilful ma¬ 
nagement, and honest persevering efforts, fulfilment will follow pre¬ 
diction, and sanguine but sober expectations will be realized. 

If the Richmond coal field, the only field of bituminous coal east 
of the Alleganies has been wrought with advantage, requiring, as it 
does, deep vertical shafts, and powerful and expensive machinery to 



21 


raise the coal, we may fairly infer that the Frostburgh coal will 
come into the market with great advantage. The only inconveni¬ 
ence which it has to encounter is in its distance from the water ;— 
but the remedy is at hand, and the additional expense of transpor¬ 
tation will be more than compensated by the great facility with 
which it is mined and extracted. 

In quality it may fairly challenge competition with any coal 
that is known. It has, we believe, more carbon than any known 
coal, except the Anthracites, and its composition is very nearly 
identical with the famous cannel coal. For steam navigation, and 
for locomotives on rail-roads, it will probably supersede all Ameri¬ 
can coals,* and will be preferred in parlors by all who desire a bitu- 

* Engineer’s Office, Baltimore and Ohio Rail-road, ) 

Baltimore , August 2d, 1838. £ 

M. St. 0. Clarke, Esq., Washington City. 

Dear Sir,—By request of L. McLane, President B. & O. R. R. Co., I forward 
to you the following account of the results of some experiments upon the burn¬ 
ing of the Cumberland Coal in several of the locomotive engines of this com¬ 
pany, some of the engines being constructed expressly for burning Anthracite 
coal, and others using dry pine wood as their ordinary fuel. The Cumberland 
Coal used was from the mines of the Maryland Mining Company, sent by that 
company to Baltimore for the purpose of the experiments. 

Experiments. On the burning bituminous coal from Cumberland, in four of 
the locomotive engines of the Baltimore & Ohio Rail-road Company. 

ls£ Experiment. On June 13th, 1838, with the locomotive “ Baltimore ”of M. 
W. Baldwin’s make, usually burning pine wood. The engine carried an average 
load of 68 tons gross, besides the tender and wood car, over a distance of 80^ 
miles between Baltimore and the inclined planes at Parr’s Ridge. Consumption 
of coal 1 ton 5 cwt. together with two cords of dry pine wood. The coal with¬ 
out the wood was used at first, but its combustion was not found sufficiently suc¬ 
cessful to generate the necessary steam, although pains were taken to excite it by 
frequent stirring. The coal seemed to melt rather than burn, the dust and soot 
from it clogged several of the tubes, which in this engine are horizontal, and 7 
feet in length with a diameter of 1 5-8 inches, and 150 in number. The experi¬ 
ment was decidedly unsuccessful, though not considered as conclusive of the in¬ 
capacity of horizontal wood engines to burn this fuel with advantage. Further 
trials with engines on this plan are proposed. For a similar amount of work, 
this engine will consume of wood 3 3-4 to 4 cords. 

2d Experiment. On June 16th, 1838, with the locomotive “ Isaac McKim ” of 
Gillingham & Winans’s make, usually burning Anthracite coal. The engine 
carried an average load of 70 ton gross, besides the tender, over a distance of 
80^ miles; between the above points, consumption of coal 1 ton 5 cwt. 2 qr. in¬ 
cluding charge before starting for getting up steam. 

3d Experiment. On June 17th, 1838, with the same engine with same load 
over the same distance, and a consumption of 1 ton 2 cwt. 3 qrs. 12 lbs. including 
charge. As on preceding day, the average consumption of the two trips was! 
ton 4 cwt. 0 qrs. 19 lbs. 

This engine has 450 tubes, 1 1-8 inch diameter and three feet long, standing in 
a vertical position ; no choking of the tubes occurred. The coal burnt freely 
with but a moderate blast from the fan by which the artificial draught is created 
in this engine, the quantity of Anthracite (red-ash coal) usually burnt in this 
engine with a similar load on a similar trip between the same points on the Bal¬ 
timore and Ohio Rail-road is 2 tons. 

4 th Experiment. On June 29th, 1838, with the locomotive “Mazeppa” of 
Gillingham <fc Winans’s make, usually burning Anthracite coal, the engine carried 
an average load of 63 tons 5 cwt. besides the tender, over the same distance of 


22 


minous coal in preference to anthracite. We have, however, no dis¬ 
position, as there is plainly no occasion, to depreciate other varieties 
of American coals :—all of them will maintain their ground, but this 
will stand at the very head. 

B. SILLIMAN, 

B. SILLIMAN, Jr. 

New Haven , XJ. S. Amer. August 13, 1888. 


Copy of a letter from Hon. Louis McLane, formerly Minister 
Plenipotentiary to Great Britain, Secretary of State of the United 
States, Secretary of the Treasury, and now President of the Balti¬ 
more & Ohio Rail-road Company. 

Baltimore, August 2 d, 1838. 

To Mathew St. Clair Clarke, Esq. 

Dear Sir, —I received this morning your letter of yesterday. I 
was very much gratified with the examination I made of the pro- 

80| miles between the above points. Consumption of fuel 1 ton G cwt. 3 qrs. 
4 lbs. including the charge as above. 

5 th Experiment. On June 30th, 1838, with same engine and same distance, 
and with an average load of 60 tons 5 cwt., consumption of fuel 1 ton 1 cwt. Oqr. 
15 lbs. also including charge for raising steam. 

6 th Experiment. On July 2nd, 1838, with same engine, over the same dis¬ 
tance, with an average load of 70 tons 11 cwt. and a consumption of 1 ton 9 cwt. 
1 qr. 24 lbs. including charge. 

The average consumption of the three trips was 1 ton 5 cwt. 3 qrs. 5 lbs. This 
engine has 450 tubes ; average diameter 1 1-8 inch, 31 inches long, standing in a 
vertical position. Its usual consumption of Anthracite for the same work is 2 
tons about. 

7 th Experiment. On July 18th, 1838, with the locomotive “ Joseph W. Pat¬ 
terson,’’ Wm. Norris’s make. This engine carried an average load of 56 ton 
gross, exclusive of tender and wood car, equal to 10 tons, over the same distance 
of 80^ miles, consuming 1 ton 7 cwt. of Cumberland coal, including charge as 
above. This engine usually burns dry pine wood, using from 2^ to 3 cords 
for a similar amount of work. As far as this experimental trip goes with coal, 
it was a successful one ; but the steam did not blow off as freely at the usual pres¬ 
sure of 120 lbs. to the square inch as when using wood. The tubes were not chok¬ 
ed ; the draft, however, a good deal clogged through the grate bars. Perhaps a 
principal cause why this trial with coal with this engine was more successful 
than that with the “ Baltimore,” may be attributed to better selected coal, viz: 
larger and less dust. This engine has 78 tubes 1 3-4 inches diameter, 8 feet long, 
and horizontal. From the above record of the experiments, it would appear that 
the combustion of the coal was most perfect in the Anthracite burning engines, 
in consequence of their superior draft , the upright position of the tubes also pre¬ 
vents their stoppage by soot or dust. The experiments were very satisfactory 
as to economy of fuel in the Anthracite engines, a long-continued use of the raw 
bituminous coal could alone show whether its impurities would so seriously affect 
its boilers as to make it best to convert it into coke before using it as fuel for loco¬ 
motives. 

I remain, Sir, very respectfully, 

Your Ob’t Serv’t, 

BENJ. H. LATROBE, 

Engineer of Location and Construction , B. O. R. R. Co. 



perty of the Maryland Mining Company, on my late journev to the 
West. I deem the property to be of great value, and cannot doubt 
that under judicious management it may be made extremely profita¬ 
ble to the stockholders. Indeed, considering the extent and quality 
of the coal, it is not easy to exaggerate the importance of the de- 
velopements of which it is susceptible. 

The result of the experiments upon the Baltimore & Ohio Rail¬ 
road has proved the coal to be of great strength and very superior 
quality ; and I have given directions to furnish you with the de¬ 
tails. 

I am respectfully, Dear Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

LOUIS McLANE. 


Copy of a letter from Hon. Geo. C. Washington, President of 
the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company. 

Hancock, August 14 th, 1838. 

To Mathew St. Clair Clarke, Esq. 

Dear Sir, —Your favor of July 31st was forwarded to this place 
from Washington, and has just come to hand. I have been for some 
time engaged in an examination of the works on the line of canal 
between Washington and Cumberland, which accounts for not sooner 
answering your letter. 

It gives me pleasure to comply with your request in answering, 
as far as in my power, the questions you have propounded. In 
answer to your first question, I would remark, that my engagements 
will not allow me time to enter into a detailed statement of the va¬ 
rious and weighty considerations which induced the Legislature of 
Maryland to undertake the prosecution and completion of the Che¬ 
sapeake and Ohio Canal to Cumberland ; nor indeed is it necessa¬ 
ry that I should, as all the information required on this subject will 
be found in the numerous documents which have been published. I 
refer you to the reports annually made to the stockholders of the 
Company, the proceedings of the Internal Improvement Convention 
of Baltimore, to the Memorials addressed by that Convention to 
the Congress of the United States, and to the states of Maryland, 
Virginia and Pennsylvania, all of these sovereignties being parties 
to the charter of the Company. I would refer you also, in the same 
document, to the able report of the committee of the Convention on 
the probable revenue of the canal, submitted by the Hon. Andrew 
Stewart, chairman, showing the vast results to be anticipated from 
the coal trade of Allegany ; also from the reports made to the Le¬ 
gislature of Maryland by its committees on Internal Improvements,. 



24 


and Ways and Means. This mass of information has been submit¬ 
ted to the public from the most responsible sources and under the 
most solemn obligations, and is therefore entitled to full credit. 

The nearest connection between the Atlantic sea-board and the 
great valley of the Ohio is by the route of Potomac River, and this 
improvement has always been a favorite measure with Maryland ; 
but so long as she relied on the aid of other parties for the accom¬ 
plishment of this great object, its progress was slow and its comple¬ 
tion uncertain ; but so soon as she resolved to place her own shoul¬ 
der to the wheel, and apply her energies and ample credit and re¬ 
sources to the work, new confidence was inspired and brighter pros¬ 
pects opened* Her motive for embarking millions in this work may 
be explained in few words—she believes that the general prosperity 
of her citizens will be promoted by the new sources of wealth to 
be developed and brought into action by means of the Canal. She 
looks to the benefits to be conferred on Baltimore, her commer¬ 
cial emporium, where the Canal without doubt will terminate ; the 
State having incorporated a Company with this view, and author¬ 
ized on her part a subscription of half a million—she looks to her 
investments in the stock of the Company as a fruitful source of re¬ 
venue on its completion to Cumberland. The Canal passes for a 
large portion of its extent through one of the richest agricultural 
regions of the Union, abounding also in lumber, lime, and numerous 
Other articles for trade and transportation. But it is not on these 
sources that the State relies for the revenue of the Canal; they are 
only considered as auxiliary to the vast trade in coal and iron on 
reaching the mineral region of Allegany. In quantity the coal beds 
are inexhaustible, and in quality superior to any other coal in the 
country, as tested by the analysis of distinguished chemists ; and in 
addition, can be transported to tide water, and to any of the Atlantic 
states, cheaper than from any quarter. It has been in view of these 
considerations that Maryland has embarked her capital and credit 
in this great work. 

Your second question is—“ What are its dimensions—where 
does it start from, and where will be its present western terminus, 
according to the act of Assembly?” The canal from Washingtoi 
to Harper’s-ferry, 62 miles counting from mouth of Tiber, is 60 
feet at the water line and 6 feet deep—from Harper’s.ferry to Cum¬ 
berland it is 50 feet at the water line, and 6 feet deep—the locks are 
100 feet in length and 15 feet in width—its present terminus will 
be at the town of Cumberland, where extensive basins are being 
formed for the accommodation of the trade at that point. It may 
be proper for me here to remark that there will be no obstructions 
to prevent the navigations of the canal by steam in its entire extent 
from Georgetown to Cumberland. Third question—“ When is it 
expected to be finished—how much is in actual use—how much 
nearly completed, and what is doing on the remainder and in tht 
town of Cumberland ?” 


25 


The Canal, it is believed, will be finished in the year 1840. The 
precise period within the year will depend materially on being able 
to procure the full amount of laborers who can be judiciously em¬ 
ployed on the line. One hundred and ten miles is in actual use, and 
by the 1st of October ensuing we expect to open about thirty miles 
more for navigation, to the feeder dam at the great Cacapen river. 
The remainder of the line to Cumberland, with the exception of light 
sections, has been put under contract, and, as stated before, the works 
are in progress at the town of Cumberland. 

Fourth question—“ Have you ever visited the estate of the Mary¬ 
land Mining Company ? If you have, what estimate did you form of 
its position, facility of approach, and value as a coal field ?” 

I have visited a portion of the estate of the Maryland Mining 
Company, and have been at some of the mines, which I consider of 
very great value, and that much enhanced from their location being, 
1 believe, the nearest deposit of coal to the Town of Cumberland, and 
believed to present coal fields of great extent. Every facility is 
offered by the surface of the country for the construction of a rail¬ 
road of easy grade to connect with the Canal. The distance being 
only a few miles, I think about 8 or 9. 

You must excuse this hasty communication, which from the pres¬ 
sure of engagements I cannot even copy. 

I am very respectfully, 

Your Ob’t Serv’t, 

( Si ned) G. C. WASHINGTON, 

Preset, Ches. Ohio Canal Co, 


Copy of a letter from Colonel J. J. Abert, Engineer in Chief of 
the United States Topographical Engineers, and a Director in the 
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. 


Washington , Aug, 3, 1838. 

Dear Sir, — I have just received your letter of the 1st, in which 
you ask what (in my opinion) induced the State of Maryland to 
make the liberal grants to the Canal Company ? 

The answer would, I believe, be the same from every one—A de¬ 
sire to develope the extensive mineral resources of Allegany County, 
and more especially of the coal fields there. These are very exten¬ 
sive, and the coal of excellent quality. 

Respectfully, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

J. J. ABERT. 

M. St. Clair Clarke, Est±, 


4 



26 


Copy of a letter from Wm. Gunton, Esq., President of the Bank of 
Washington, and a Director in the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal 
Company. 


Washington City, Aug. 4th, 1838. 


Sir, —I yesterday received the letter addressed to me on the 31st 
ult. by you, as President of the Maryland Mining Company, 
requesting answers to three questions therein propounded. 

One of these is as follows : “ First, What induced the State of 
Maryland to undertake and prosecute to completion, as she is now 
doing, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal?” 

The inducement I consider to be the causing a vast addition to 
the wealth of the State, a great increase in her revenue by the re¬ 
ceipt of her share of the tolls which will be payable, and a large 
augmentation in the value of her exports—effects which the com¬ 
pletion of the canal to Cumberland, and thus opening an easy chan¬ 
nel of conveyance from the mines to her metropolis, cannot fail 
to produce ; at least such I believe to have been the impression ge¬ 
nerally entertained by the State authorities and their constituents. 

Another of the questions is: “ Second, Have you ever been on 
the coal-fields of the Maryland Mining Company ? If so, did you 
then form, or have you now, any idea of their value when the canal is 
finished and our Rail-road constructed to our depot on the Basin 
at Cumberland ?” In answer to this, I have to say that I have been 
on the coal fields referred to, but that I did not then form, nor have 
I now any idea of what their value will be when the canal be finished 
and a Rail-road from them to Cumberland be constructed. That 
it must be very great, however, I have no doubt, owing to the facili¬ 
ty with which the coal may then be transported to market, its supe¬ 
rior quality, and the immensity of the quantities the fields contain. 

The other question is : “ Third, Have you heard the general im¬ 
pression as to the relative value of the purchases of coal mines 
made by myself compared with others in the County of Allegany 
and in reply thereto, I have to say, that I have heard various gen¬ 
tlemen, whose opinions I deem to be entitled to confidence, speak 
decidedly in favor of the relative value of the mines you purchased 
as compared with others in the vicinity of Cumberland ; and from 
the judgment I consider you to possess on the subject, your general 
acquaintance with that section of country, and your having, with 
ample opportunities for choosing the most valuable, made the ear¬ 
liest purchases, I entertain no doubt of your having made good se¬ 
lections. 


Yours most respectfully, 

W. GUNTON. 


Mathew St. Clair Clarke, Esq. 

President Maryland Mining Company. 


27 


Copy of a letter from Commodore Patterson : 

U. S. Navy Yard, Washington, Aug. 18, 1838. 

Sir, —It is believed that the Cumberland Coal, being almost free 
of sulphur, can be used advantageously at this yard in the manufac¬ 
ture of heavy iron work, and it is desirable to ascertain upon what 
terms it can be procured, and whether the consumption can be sup. 
plied, which is from 20,000 to 30,000 bushels per annum. 

Will you be pleased to give me that information, if in your power. 

I am, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

DANIEL T. PATTERSON, 

Commandant. 

M. St. Clair Clarke, Esq. Washington City. 






